Chauncey Billups
Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976, in Denver, Colorado) is an American professional Basketball player. Billups is the starting point guard for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association. He played College basketball at the University of Colorado, where he was honored in 2004 as the fifth player to have his jersey (#4) retired. His nicknames are "Mr. Big Shot" and "Smooth". He was the 2004 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. Basketball career High school Chauncey Billups attended Denver's George Washington High School, where he was a four-time All-State first team pick, Colorado Mr. Basketball three times, and Colorado Player of the Year as a sophomore and as a junior. He was selected to the 1995 McDonald's All-American Team but did not play due to a shoulder injury, an injury that he would have a problem with off and on throughout his early career. College Billups attended the University of Colorado, where he averaged 18.5 points per game over his two seasons. In the 1996-97 season he was named to the Big 12 Conference First Team and the Basketball Times All-American First Team. Early NBA years Drafted third overall in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, Billups was traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Kenny Anderson midway through his first season. Billups then played for the Denver Nuggets, who traded him to the Orlando Magic, although he was on the injured list until season's end and never played a game for Orlando (he was included on the season-ending team photo, wearing jersey number 2). He was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves as a back-up to then point guard Terrell Brandon. Billups replaced the often-injured Brandon and had a breakthrough 2001-2002 season. In June 2002 Billups signed with the Detroit Pistons as a free agent to be the team's new starting point guard. Detroit Pistons When he signed with the Pistons, Billups was forced to take the number 1 (Ironically, Pistons number 1 jersey was originally worn by Lindsey Hunter before he was once traded away) because number 4 was retired in honor of Joe Dumars. Billups quickly established himself in the Pistons squad, earning respect from fans and colleagues for his tenacious defense and clutch shooting. He helped lead the Pistons to the 2004 NBA Finals, averaging 21 points and 5.2 assists per game in the series to earn the Finals MVP Award in a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2005, the Pistons lost the Finals in seven games to the San Antonio Spurs. He was also named to the 2005 NBA Second All-Defensive Team, along with teammate Tayshaun Prince, while teammate and co-captain of the Pistons Ben Wallace took home the Defensive Player of the Year Award. In 2006, Billups was co-captain of the team. Although he captained the Pistons to a franchise best 64-18 record, they failed to make it to the Finals for the first time in three years. He also led the league in assist to turn-over ratio. Billups became one of the team's tri-captains along with Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton (following Ben Wallace's signing with the Chicago Bulls due to free-agency) Billups has attained a reputation around the league as basketball a talented point guard, confident leader, and clutch player. On July 11, 2007, Billups signed a $46 million, four-year contract (with a team option for a fifth year at $14 million). Billups had been an unrestricted free agent for several days after he opted out of the previous contract which he had signed in 2002. During a game 3 playoff game against the Orlando Magic, Billups pulled a hamstring after going for a ball. He missed game 4 but the Pistons defeated the Magic 90-89 to take a 3-1 series lead when Tayshaun Prince hit the game-winning shot with 8.9 seconds left. All-star weekend In 2006 Billups was selected to play in the 2006 as a reserve for the Eastern Conference (NBA) along with teammates Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace. Pistons head coach Flip Saunders coached the Eastern Conference squad and put all four Pistons in the game when the east was falling behind and they were able to get the eastern all-stars back in the game. During the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, Billups participated in the Three-point Shootout contest. He was eliminated in the first round of the contest after scoring 12 points. In the 2007 Billups was again chosen along with teammate Richard Hamilton as a reserve for the Eastern Conference despite an injury that kept Billups out of five games early on in the season. Billups also took part in the Shooting Stars Competition alongside former Piston and Detroit Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer and Shock star Swin Cash. Team Detroit won the competition with Billups hitting the final half-court shot. In the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, Billups was chosen again along with teammates Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace as a reserve who replaced Kevin Garnett who was out with an abdominal strain. International career On March 5 2006, Billups was selected to be a part of the 2006-2008 USA Men's Senior National Team program developed to restore Team USA back to the top of the basketball world after disappointments in the 2002 FIBA World Championship and the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. After missing out in the 2006 due to personal reasons, on August 20 2007, Billups was selected to be a part of Team USA that competed at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, a qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics. Coming off the bench, he along with the other new members of the team including All Star Kobe Bryant helped USA go unbeaten at the tournament held in Las Vegas and earn a spot at next Summer Olympics. On June 17, 2008, Billups announced he would not compete for a spot to be on the Olympic squad stating family reasons though he did say "they'll be fine. And when they win the gold, I'll feel like I had a big hand in regaining our dominance because of what we did last summer." During the tournament, Team USA went unbeaten on their way to their first gold medal since the 2000 Olympics, defeating Spain in the final. Denver Nuggets On November 3, 2008, Billups was traded to Denver along with Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb for All-Star point guard Allen Iverson. Player profile Chauncey Billups has established himself as one of the best point guards in the league. He is considered among the best defensive guards in the NBA today, and is also among the league's top-ten leaders in three-pointers, assists, field-goals and free-throw percentage. However, he is also known as a very physical point guard, scoring many of his points down in the low-post by tricking defenders usually much larger than he is. Billups has also been nicknamed "Mr. Big Shot" for his ability to convert critical shots and free throws at the close of a game. His career high stats are: Personal life Billups is married to Piper and has three children: Cydney, Ciara, and Cenaiya. His good friend, NBA player Kevin Garnett, is the godfather to Billups's second daughter Ciara. His younger brother, Rodney, was a point guard for the University of Denver and was recently drafted in the NBA D-League. He is the first cousin of running back LenDale White of the Tennessee Titans. Billups enjoys listening to his favorite rapper, 2Pac, and also enjoys Jay-Z. He lists his favorite athlete as Magic Johnson and has said the reason he wore the #4 in college and on his previous NBA stops was because he idolized former Pistons guard (and current Pistons President of Basketball Operations) Joe Dumars. His favorite NFL team is the Denver Broncos. Awards and honors *Gold Medal with Team USA, Tournament of Americas Olympic Qualifiers *2004 NBA Finals MVP *2004-05 NBA All-Defense Second Team *2006, 2007, 2008 NBA All-Star *2005-06 All-NBA Second Team *2005-06 NBA All-Defense Second Team *2006-07 All-NBA Third Team NBA career statistics Regular season |- | align="left" | 1997–98 | align="left" | Boston Celtics | 51 || 44 || 25.4 || .390 || .339 || .817 || 2.2 || 4.3 || 1.5 || .0 || 11.1 |- | align="left" | 1997–98 | align="left" | Toronto | 29 || 26 || 31.7 || .349 || .316 || .919 || 2.7 || 3.3 || 1.0 || .1 || 11.3 |- | align="left" | 1998–99 | align="left" | Denver Nuggets | 45 || 41 || 33.1 || .386 || .362 || .913 || 2.1 || 3.8 || 1.3 || .3 || 13.9 |- | align="left" | 1999–00 | align="left" | Denver Nuggets | 13 || 5 || 23.5 || .337 || .171 || .841 || 2.6 || 3.0 || .8 || .2 || 8.6 |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | Minnesota | 77 || 33 || 23.2 || .422 || .376 || .842 || 2.1 || 3.4 || .7 || .1 || 9.3 |- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Minnesota | 82 || 54 || 28.7 || .423 || .394 || .885 || 2.8 || 5.5 || .8 || .2 || 12.5 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Detroit | 74 || 74 || 31.4 || .421 || .392 || .878 || 3.7 || 3.9 || .9 || .2 || 16.2 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Detroit | 78 || 78 || 35.4 || .394 || .388 || .878 || 3.5 || 5.7 || 1.1 || .1 || 16.9 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Detroit | 80 || 80 || 35.8 || .442 || .426 || .898 || 3.4 || 5.8 || 1.0 || .1 || 16.5 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Detroit | 81 || 81 || 36.1 || .418 || .433 || .894 || 3.1 || 8.6 || .9 || .1 || 18.5 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | Detroit | 70 || 70 || 36.2 || .427 || .345 || .883 || 3.4 || 7.2 || 1.2 || .2 || 17.0 |- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | Detroit | 78 || 78 || 32.3 || .448 || .401 || .918 || 2.7 || 6.8 || 1.3 || .2 || 17.0 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 758 || 664 || 31.8 || .416 || .385 || .886 || 2.9 || 5.5 || 1.0 || .1 || 14.8 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 3 || 0 || 16.7 || .429 || .143 || .750 || 3.0 || 5.7 || .0 || .0 || 9.7 Playoffs |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | Minnesota | 3 || 0 || 8.7 || .167 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.7 || .7 || .0 || .0 || 1.0 |- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Minnesota | 3 || 3 || 44.7 || .451 || .400 || .700 || 5.0 || 5.7 || 1.0 || .3 || 22.0 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Detroit | 14 || 14 || 34.6 || .374 || .310 || .933 || 3.4 || 4.7 || .6 || .1 || 18.0 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Detroit | 23 || 23 || 38.3 || .385 || .346 || .890 || 3.0 || 5.9 || 1.4 || .1 || 16.4 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Detroit | 25 || 25 || 39.4 || .428 || .349 || .893 || 4.3 || 6.5 || 1.0 || .2 || 18.7 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Detroit | 18 || 18 || 39.2 || .406 || .340 || .905 || 3.4 || 6.5 || 1.2 || .1 || 17.9 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | Detroit | 16 || 16 || 40.6 || .435 || .389 || .832 || 3.3 || 5.7 || 1.2 || .1 || 18.6 |- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | Detroit | 15 || 15 || 32.0 || .401 || .375 || .832 || 2.9 || 5.5 || .8 || .1 || 16.1 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 117 || 114 || 37.1 || .407 || .351 || .876 || 3.4 || 5.8 || 1.0 || .1 || 17.3 Notes References * External links *Official Myspace *NBA Profile for Chauncey Billups *Instructional DVD with Chauncey Billups Category:Celtics players